Brits face retirement heavily 'in the red'

As the cost of living continues to soar new research has revealed that Britons are set to retire a collective £66bn in the red.

Brits: Set to retire with a massive £66bn in the red

According to equity release specialist Key Retirement Solutions more than one in three over the age of 55 has outstanding unsecured debts, averaging £11,106 per head.

The study found that almost one in four have outstanding loan payments owing £8,766 on average per head, while a fifth have outstanding card debts and owe £8,358 on average but in terms of overdrafts are just 3% are in the red.

The situation is exacerbated when taking into account the average outstanding mortgage debt which stands at £37,316 per head for this age demographic.

Dean Mirfin, of Key Retirement Solutions, said: 'As the cost of living is on the up, these figures, even if they are only part reflective of pensioners as a whole, are of real concern.

'Retirement should be a time to enjoy yourself after all those years of hard work, yet one in 20 people in their 60s, 70s and 80s admit to constantly struggling to keep up with financial commitments or having fallen into arrears.

'The cost of living for the elderly has surpassed inflation over the past decade therefore it is more important than ever that consumers are aware of the dangers of approaching retirement with such large amounts of debt.'

Arguably of greatest concern is that the further people reach in retirement the deeper in debt they seemingly become.

The total unsecured debt for those aged 55-59 is over £2.5bn and this soars by 747%, reaching a total of over £22bn for the over 70s, which is on average £10,659 per head with an average monthly payment per head of £244.

Voluntary pension contributions made by UK adults have almost halved in the past 12 months. But this failure to save could prove costly, with the costs of goods and services purchased by pensioners having risen by 36% since 1998 – faster than the rise in the Retail Price Inflation which has risen by 32% over the same period.

Commenting on the research, Chris Tapp, of charity Credit Action says: 'In recent years there has been a 'buy now, worry about it later' culture in the UK when it comes to borrowing, particularly on unsecured forms of credit. For many pensioners today these figures show it's a case of 'bought then, worrying about it now.'